If you read this week's Monday's Moment you will know that I personally am more of a pie person than cake. However, it wasn't my birthday, it was the husband's and I wanted to attempt something I have had yet to do: make a cake and one with a little flare at that. Leave it to good ole Pinterest (and Melissa's Kitchen) to have the perfect idea for a candy cake. It looked amazing yet simple enough that I wouldn't be afraid to try it. The biggest challenge for me was going to be the actual cake not the decor. We live above 7,000 ft. If you've looked at the back of cake box you will find that their directions for high altitude usually only go up to about 4,000-6,000 ft. Baking had become a real challenge since moving here. Cakes, muffins, cupcakes, etc tend to be extremely crumbly AND fall inside each other. Thus I began scouring Google for tips for cooking at higher altitudes and found lots of great information.
Many sites recommended increasing the liquids with some differing opinions on whether or not eggs were considered a liquid that should be increased. I had a Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip mix which has directions for one of the higher altitudes out of cake mixes. I followed the high altitude directions as well as added a few extra tablespoons of water. In addition I found a site that suggested that you cook the cake in the lower third of the oven at a little higher temperature so that it can cook more evenly.
Guess what??? It worked! My cakes weren't nearly as crumbly as they usually are. I was able to stack my two round cakes and put frosting all around without loosing large chunks of cake in the process.
The best part was that the husband was completely surprised and loved it! It was a bit on the sweet side by the time I added all that candy but overall it was a big success!
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